Dnebredneg
by ShadowPillow
Summary: "You're a ghost," Tucker blurted. "And..." He didn't finish either. But whatever thought was left unsaid was the last thing on its – Danny's – mind.


A/N: So much for having such a busy schedule that I can't write. That is, I can't write new multichaptered stories haha.

(I don't own Danny Phantom.)

(This was so _freaking hard to write_. I hope you appreciate my efforts once you realize what exactly I was doing.)

* * *

 **Dnebredneg**

* * *

A figure stumbled from the portal, green swirls the color of death. It stared at its hands, the luminescent white glow that surrounded them. They were too dark, darker than they should have been. As if it hadn't stayed inside without sight of the sun for most of its life.

Its gaze snapped up at a stifled gasp. Yes, it's ears were more acute now. It saw two children, one a boy and another a girl.

 _Why are they looking at me like that?_ a tremulous voice spoke in its own mind.

"Danny... You're..." Tucker said, his voice cracking. Any other time the figure would have laughed, teased him about acting like such a _girl_. But this time was different. Somehow. It couldn't remember. Something was wrong.

It stepped forward. The two stepped back, almost _scared_ , and it could barely conceal its hurt.

"Why are you scared of me?" it asked, pleading, confused.

Sam, the girl shook her head adamantly.

"We're not scared, Danny," she said, licking her lips nervously, "We're just..."

"Just what?" it demanded, when it became clear that she wouldn't continue.

"You're a ghost," Tucker blurted. "And..." He didn't finish either. But whatever thought was left unsaid was the last thing on its mind.

 _What_ _?_

A ghost?

 _But... but... ghosts aren't real._ A feeble protest.

Suddenly, the figure was aware of its surroundings. Its parent's lab. The Ghost Portal was behind it, swirling green.

 _Swirling green?_

It... it was on.

The figure gasped, whirling around, barely noticing how its feet _weren't touching the ground and_ what _and how were the laws of physics not stopping this_. But it didn't matter. None of that mattered.

The portal was on.

 _He stepped inside, fumbling around in the dark, casting a hand around clumsily as he attempted to make his way in deeper to the portal. How far back did this thing go? He didn't think his parents would –_

 _His hand caught on a round object on the side of the wall, and he investigated it with his hands. There was a slight leeway as he gently nudged it around, and it was cylindrical. A button? He squinted and tried to adjust his eyes quicker so that he would see, and eventually he could make out "ON" scrawled in large letters above the button._

 _He was delighted with the discovery._ This _was why the portal hadn't worked (_ if ghosts were really real _, his mind whispered). His parents had forgotten to press the on button! He could do it for them now, so easily, and he knew those disappointed,_ crushed _looks that they had worn as the portal was declared a failure would disappear with the discovery of their Ghost Portal working._

 _He lifted his hand –_

 _"Danny, no!" A cry for him to stop, to not commit this act that would forever change his future –_

 _– and he pressed the button._

It felt very small, and very weak. It had died. It was a ghost. It had died because of the Ghost Portal.

Its chest rose and fell rapidly. Breaths came and went _inoutinoutinout_ so quick that it couldn't count them if it had wanted to. It was hyperventilating.

(It didn't realize that the fact that it could do so meant that it was at least partially, blessedly _alive_.)

Then something changed, and there was a flash of light, and it was human again.

.

.

.

When Danny woke up, it was clear that something was wrong. Something felt... different. Not right.

A shudder wracked the body, toes and fingers shivering as _somethingwaswrongsomethingwaswrong_. What was it?

 _Oh_. Danny remembered.

 _Death. Ghost Portal. Ghost._

Danny was a ghost now. Except, air past through chambers and lungs and a chest beat with the human fury of a heart. Blood rushed through veins, and warmth tingled in every place possible.

Except one. Which Danny was okay with, but it was embarrassing, and something was _wrong_ and Danny wasn't in the lab like the memories claimed. So feet touched the ground of the messy room, covered in posters of favorite bands and space ships. Soon, they were touching cool tile, and now eyes stared into a mirror.

The sensation of sinking. The world spinning round and round.

This was _worse_ than being a ghost.

Danny had somehow been turned into a girl.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Maddie Fenton stared at her son – no, her daughter.

This...

 _How on earth does one step into the_ Ghost _Portal and become a girl... a_ female _, of all things?_

Maybe she would have to revise their working theory on how Ghost Portals work. Interdimensional exchange, perhaps? Her scientist mind whirled to find answers.

"Mom," Danny whined, face red. "This is bad enough without you _dissecting_ me."

She nodded absentmindedly.

"It'll be all right, honey," she said reassuringly, although her mind was elsewhere. "I'm sure you'll make a wonderful daughter."

"Daughter?" Jack Fenton arrived on the scene. "What's this about my Jazzerincess?"

Danny looked like she would die of mortification.

"It's not about Jazz, Dad," she said, gritting out the words. "It's about me."

Her dad looked at her, and did a doubletake.

"Uh, Dannyboy – er, Dannygirl?"

 _Great_ , even her dad's nickname for her would be changed.

She tried to hide her increasingly red face.

"Danny, honey, it'll be all right," Maddie said finally, noticing the direness of the situation. "Your gender isn't what your body looks like, you know that right?"

Danny groaned.

"Mom, I –"

Suddenly a blue mist escaped her mouth, and a shudder wracked her body. She struggled to hide it, knowing that it was something _other_. She remembered the night before, down in the lab, and tried to forget.

 _DeAThPAiNGREeN_ –

Maddie was staring at her with concerned eyes. Danny was about to open her mouth to reply that _yes, yes, I'm okay, stop_ worrying, when –

"GHOST!" Jack Fenton cried out.

And there was indeed a ghost. A green, octupus-shaped ghost. Something within Danny reacted, a primal _snarl_ building on her lips.

 _Get OUT get OUT get OUT_

 _MY territory_

 _MINE_

Without realizing it, her feet had planted themselves firmly on the ground and she was raising from the dinner table. _Something_ gathered at the tips of her fingers, a buildup, and when it was full and ripe and cold and _death_ , it released itself from her mortal frame.

A green energy bolt struck the ectopus. It turned tail and ran.

Then there was silence. Her parents stared at her. Danny grinned sheepishly, hiding the _worry_ and the _coldness_ that he felt conflicting with his natural self.

"I think the Portal did more than just turn me into a girl."

.

.

.

.

Although, he thought that maybe it would have been better if he was simply a ghost, because this girl thing?

It just wasn't working out for him.


End file.
